Preserve The Charm

October 31, 1986

I am sure you will agree with me that one of the most attractive features of our city is the downtown Park Avenue area. It has helped to develop the character and charm that Oliver Chapman and Loring Chase, founders of Winter Park, envisioned more than 100 years ago.

The essence of this character has always been associated with the variety of small shops along the avenue. A combination of economic conditions threatens the survival of small shopkeepers. In the mid-1960s communities across the country, including Orlando, witnessed an exodus of retail merchants to the suburban shopping mall. This was triggered by escalating property rents and acute parking shortages.

As the current guardians of Winter Park we have a responsibility to plan for the needs of our city. To sustain the vitality and character of Park Avenue it is essesntial that we adopt a plan to provide adequate parking for the downtown area. The issue of parking has been debated and studied for years. Last year our parking consultants determined that we need at least 250 additional parking spaces.

Since that time the city commission, after months of study and debate, has developed a plan to meet that need. Our challenge was to formulate a solution that would:

-- Construct a parking structure that did not detract from the appearance of Central Park.

-- Develop a method to finance this project that would be fair to the shopkeeper, the downtown property owner and all citizens of Winter Park. The proposed plan that you will be approving on Tuesday will accomplish these two objectives.

The two proposed single-story structures will accommodate a total of 444 vehicles at the site of the existing municipal lots on New York Avenue at Morse Boulevard. This will create 239 new parking spaces at a cost of $3,500,000. To finance the construction budget we have proposed that the city sell revenue bonds amounting to $4,630,000. The amount in excess of $3,500,000 will pay the costs involved in issuing the bonds and to design the garages.

About 25 percent of the money to repay the debt will be paid by state- raised taxes called Guaranteed Entitlement Funds. Money from this fund is currently being used to repay a similar debt that the city entered into in 1965 to purchase and develop the two existing parking lots on New York Avenue. The amount of money necessary in 1965 to repay that debt amounts to $128,000. We are asking your approval to continue the payment of this amount for an additional 20 years. By using this source of revenue we can avoid imposing any additional property tax on your real estate.

The remaining debt will be repaid from parking fees collected in parking meters in the garages and from an assessment to be paid by the owners of business properties in the downtown area. Before this assessment can be made we need approval from the citizens of Winter Park to sell the bonds and to allow the use of the $128,000 of guaranteed entitlement money.

After having studied this problem for more than 12 years as a citizen, businessman and your city commissioner, I can assure you this is the best and fairest solution to this critical need. I urge each of you to support this plan to improve our community.